Director column

IBC director's monthly column featured in Cattleman Magazine. Archives
Denise Schwab, interim IBC director	May 2025 It’s hard to believe that first cutting hay will be ready for harvest soon. Are you ready for how and where to store it? I recently researched the topic of hay storage for the ISU Hay School, which can be found at https://go.iastate.edu/A7CXW3 and thought I’d share a few key points on hay storage here. 1. Store hay off the ground and under a cover. Hay losses will happen during storage, however how we store hay can reduce the losses significantly. In 2017, Dr. William Edwards, ISU Economist, examined 14 research papers that measured hay loss from big round bales during storage. Hay stored inside a building had the least dry matter loss averaging 5%, while bales stored off the ground on pallets or gravel and covered by a tarp had 8% loss. Round bales stored on bare ground with no cover had on average 27% dry matter loss with some studies as high as 61% loss!! Making good hay is challenging enough, so don’t accept losing a third of it to the weather! I’ve had cattlemen question how you could have almost a third of the hay lost from round bales, when only the outer 2-3” really look weathered or spoiled. But in a 6’ diameter bale, the outer 3” contains 15% of the total weight of that bale, and the outer 6” contains 30%. A few inches of spoilage represents a large portion of the total weight of the bale. Moisture basically enters round bales in two ways, from wicking moisture up from the ground or from rain or moisture entering the bale from above. Anything we do to reduce these two entry points will save more of your valuable hay. SDSU and University of Wisconsin did a neat study in 2019 where they stored net-wrapped bales in different configurations, then determined loss and moisture in those bales and created moisture images. I’m just including two of the images to demonstrate moisture movement, but if you are interested check out their report. I think you will find it interesting. 2. Binding improves storage. The type of binding used also impacts storage losses. A Minnesota study compared twine, net wrap and B-wrap on alfalfa hay stored on pallets but uncovered for 12 months. The B-wrap hay showed no dry matter loss, while the twine wrap bales had 5.3% loss and the net wrap bales had 4.9% loss. 3. Store with feedout in mind. Identify hay by cutting and source to better match feedout needs to hay available. Feed first cutting hay for fall and early winter needs when cow requirements are low, and save later cutting higher-quality hay for calving season and early lactation. This means store hay so first in is first out. Why be concerned? The difference in price of $100/ton hay between 5% dry matter loss and 25% dry matter loss is $25/ton. For an average 50-cow herd feeding 2.5 ton of hay per cow per year at $100/ton, that amounts to $3150 per year in savings. This may not be enough to cover the cost of a building but will definitely pay for rock, pallets, or tires to get the bales up off the ground and plastic or tarps to cover them. However, with the current high cattle prices, this might be a good year to invest in a permanent hay storage structure. Plus, the USDA Farm Storage Facility Loans can offer low interest loans to help with hay storage. For more information, contact your local County USDA Service Center. Enjoy May Beef Month and stay safe during planting and hay making! If you aren’t already receiving Growing Beef, sign up at https://go.iastate.edu/UIQJTM or by clicking the QR code. The IBC at Iowa State University serves as the university’s extension program to cattle producers. Our center comprises a team of faculty and staff from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the College of Veterinary Medicine and Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. We work together to develop and deliver the latest in research-based information to improve the profitability and vitality of Iowa’s beef industry. If you’d like to be notified of updates on progress of research projects or programs that might be coming to your area, please subscribe to our “Growing Beef” newsletter by following the link on our website, www.iowabeefcenter.org. If you have a question, use our “Ask our Experts” link. Also, feel free to call us at 515-294-BEEF or email us at beefcenter@iastate.edu. You can follow @iowabeefcenter on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram.

IBC director's monthly column featured in Cattleman Magazine. Archives

Denise Schwab, interim IBC director

May 2025

It’s hard to believe that first cutting hay will be ready for harvest soon. Are you ready for how and where to store it? I recently researched the topic of hay storage for the ISU Hay School, which can be found at https://go.iastate.edu/A7CXW3 and thought I’d share a few key points on hay storage here.

1. Store hay off the ground and under a cover. Hay losses will happen during storage, however how we store hay can reduce the losses significantly. In 2017, Dr. William Edwards, ISU Economist, examined 14 research papers that measured hay loss from big round bales during storage. Hay stored inside a building had the least dry matter loss averaging 5%, while bales stored off the ground on pallets or gravel and covered by a tarp had 8% loss. Round bales stored on bare ground with no cover had on average 27% dry matter loss with some studies as high as 61% loss!! Making good hay is challenging enough, so don’t accept losing a third of it to the weather!

I’ve had cattlemen question how you could have almost a third of the hay lost from round bales, when only the outer 2-3” really look weathered or spoiled. But in a 6’ diameter bale, the outer 3” contains 15% of the total weight of that bale, and the outer 6” contains 30%. A few inches of spoilage represents a large portion of the total weight of the bale.

Moisture basically enters round bales in two ways, from wicking moisture up from the ground or from rain or moisture entering the bale from above. Anything we do to reduce these two entry points will save more of your valuable hay. SDSU and University of Wisconsin did a neat study in 2019 where they stored net-wrapped bales in different configurations, then determined loss and moisture in those bales and created moisture images. I’m just including two of the images to demonstrate moisture movement, but if you are interested check out their report. I think you will find it interesting.

Alfalfa bale stored under roof graphic.

Stored outside in row graphic.

2. Binding improves storage. The type of binding used also impacts storage losses. A Minnesota study compared twine, net wrap and B-wrap on alfalfa hay stored on pallets but uncovered for 12 months. The B-wrap hay showed no dry matter loss, while the twine wrap bales had 5.3% loss and the net wrap bales had 4.9% loss.

3. Store with feedout in mind. Identify hay by cutting and source to better match feedout needs to hay available. Feed first cutting hay for fall and early winter needs when cow requirements are low, and save later cutting higher-quality hay for calving season and early lactation. This means store hay so first in is first out.

Why be concerned? The difference in price of $100/ton hay between 5% dry matter loss and 25% dry matter loss is $25/ton. For an average 50-cow herd feeding 2.5 ton of hay per cow per year at $100/ton, that amounts to $3150 per year in savings. This may not be enough to cover the cost of a building but will definitely pay for rock, pallets, or tires to get the bales up off the ground and plastic or tarps to cover them. However, with the current high cattle prices, this might be a good year to invest in a permanent hay storage structure. Plus, the USDA Farm Storage Facility Loans can offer low interest loans to help with hay storage. For more information, contact your local County USDA Service Center.

Enjoy May Beef Month and stay safe during planting and hay making!

Growing Beef newsletter sign up. If you aren’t already receiving Growing Beef, sign up at https://go.iastate.edu/UIQJTM or by clicking the QR code.

The IBC at Iowa State University serves as the university’s extension program to cattle producers. Our center comprises a team of faculty and staff from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the College of Veterinary Medicine and Iowa State University Extension and Outreach. We work together to develop and deliver the latest in research-based information to improve the profitability and vitality of Iowa’s beef industry. If you’d like to be notified of updates on progress of research projects or programs that might be coming to your area, please subscribe to our “Growing Beef” newsletter by following the link on our website, www.iowabeefcenter.org. If you have a question, use our “Ask our Experts” link. Also, feel free to call us at 515-294-BEEF or email us at beefcenter@iastate.edu. You can follow @iowabeefcenter on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Instagram.